A Quick Guide to the Research on Same-Sex Parenting (As Presented to the Federal Courts)

Two marriage equality cases are advancing to the Ninth Circuit of Appeals from the states of Nevada (Sevcik v. Sandoval) and Hawaii (Jackson v. Abercrombie). In both cases, marriage equality lost at the district court level, distinguishing them from the case challenging California’s Proposition 8 and essentially freeing them of the jurisdictional issues that complicated the Prop 8 case. This means that the two cases provide an opportunity for the court to directly consider the constitutionality of states banning same-sex marriage.

Numerous professional organizations submitted amicus briefs last week advising the court about why it should support marriage equality and in particular, addressing the question of same-sex parenting. Opponents assert that same-sex marriage should be banned because children fare better with different-sex parents than with same-sex parents. Not only does this ignore the fact that joint adoption is already legal for same-sex couples in both Nevada and Hawaii, but as the scholarly community points out, it disregards the consensus of scientific research endorsing same-sex parenting.

In a brief filed by the American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, American Psychoanalytic Association and Hawaii Psychological Association, the scholars outline three factors that research has determined leads to good parenting:

The quality of the relationships between parent and child.

The quality of the relationships among adults in the child’s life (such as between the parents).

Available economic resources to support the child’s development (e.g., safer neighborhoods, more nutritious food, etc.).

The groups point out that these factors are not impacted by sexual orientation, and thus there is no reason to conclude same-sex parents would be inferior in any way.

In a complementary brief, the American Sociological Association (ASA) expanded upon what research says specifically about the outcomes for children of same-sex parents:

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Both young children and adolescents had similar grades in school regardless of the sex of their parents. In fact, children of same-sex couples fare similarly — if not better — on various educational outcomes when compared to children of different-sex parents.

EARLY SEXUAL ACTIVITY: Children of same-sex parents are not more likely to engage in sexual activity. In fact, one study found that children with two moms engaged in sexual intercourse for the first time at a slightly older age than a similar sample of children with different-sex parents.

The voices of the young people who have been raised by same-sex parents is championed in an additional brief, filed by the Family Equality Council, Equality Hawaii Foundation, We Are Family and COLAGE. Census estimates suggest there are about 250,000 children being raised in same-sex families. The brief includes testimony from several of them, who have also been highlighted by the Family Equality Council’s “The Outspoken Generation” project:

Given how same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage are separate issues under the law, it remains unclear why opponents of marriage equality use parenting arguments to justify maintaining their bans. Nevertheless, their parenting arguments do not hold any legitimate scientific merit and only provide advocates with opportunities to highlight the same-sex families already raising children in Hawaii, Nevada and across the country.

If you are have two or more people supporting you through your early life you are very fortunate. There is no blueprint for parenthood, no perfect solution, no ideal family. We are all just winging every situation as best we can and sometimes it works better than others. No one can predict how anything will work out so why is there this fascination with extrapolating the outcome of generic situations from some previous situations?

This research ought to be more widely publicized, because the prejudiced assumption that same-sex couples make bad parents lies behind much of the opposition to marriage equality.

In the case of the Catholic hierarchy, their decisions to close adoption agencies on the grounds that they don't want to allow same-sex couples to adopt, are simply evil. They show no concern for the well-being of children in need of stable, loving homes, by refusing to allow same-sex couples to adopt. It is almost as evil as their refusing to allow condoms to be distributed in order to prevent HIV/AIDS.